My OperaMODFAM2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010 4:51:38 PM
The opening screen depicts the three families that make up the larger Pritchett clan (from left to right): Gloria, Manny, and Jay; Luke, Alex, Claire, Haley, and Phil; and Lily, Mitchell, and Cam. 
Modern Family is an American comedy TV series. The half-hour series, which was created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, is produced by Fox Television Studios and presented in a mockumentary style. In 2010, it won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, as well as two other Emmy Awards, Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy Series for Eric Stonestreet, and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd.
The mockumentary follows the families of Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill), his daughter Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen), and his son Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) who live in Los Angeles. Claire is a homemaker mom married to Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell); they have three children. Jay is married to a much younger Colombian woman, Gloria (Sofía Vergara), and is helping her raise her pre-teen son, Manny. Mitchell and his partner Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) have adopted a Vietnamese baby, Lily. The show premiered on ABC on September 23, 2009 to critical acclaim. Early on it was named as a big contender for the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards. It went on to win three Emmy Awards.
The series premiered on ABC with the pilot episode, watched by 12.61 million viewers. Soon after the series was picked up for a full season on October 8, 2009. On January 12, 2010, Modern Family was renewed for a second season by ABC. The syndication rights to the show have also been sold to USA Network for a fall 2013 premiere. The producers reportedly sold the show for close to $1.5 million per episode.
The show revolves around three families that are interrelated through Jay Pritchett and his children, Claire Dunphy and Mitchell Pritchett. The families meet for family functions, around the neighborhood, and cross-family bonding.THE FAMILY TREE
Most episodes do not seem to follow a chronological time line. Some episodes begin with members of the family being asked a specific question, which forms the wraparound for the entire episode. The show then follows the antics, adventures, and mishaps of the three families as they deal with events of a particular day. Episodes may focus on the role of a father, how the children in each family are doing, etc. Episodes typically close out with a voice-over, where one of the members of the extended family provides their opinions as an answer. Additionally, the ending almost always involves an uplifting and sweet resolution of some minor conflict or tension developed over the course of that episode.
Other episodes don't have a wraparound but may follow an event that links all three families, such as the Ohio State-Illinois game in "Coal Digger" or Luke's birthday party.
There has been one Christmas special, one Thanksgiving special, and one Valentine's Day special.
While working in the office, Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan were telling stories about their family and they thought that could be a show idea, and started working around the idea of a family being observed in a mockumentary style show. They then later decided it would be a show about three families and their experiences. The show was originally called My American Family. Originally, the camera crew would be run by a Dutch filmmaker named Geert Floortje who had lived with Jay's family as a teenage exchange student and developed a crush on Claire (while Mitchell had a crush on him), but decided against it.
The series quickly became a priority for ABC after the pilot episode tested high with focus groups, resulting in the network ordering 13 episodes and adding it to the 2009–2010 fall lineup days ahead of ABC's official schedule announcement. The series was given a full season pickup on October 8, 2009.
On January 12, 2010, ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson announced that Modern Family had been renewed for a second season.
Special Guest Stars
Shelley Long appeared in episode 4, "The Incident", as Jay's ex-wife.
Edward Norton and Elizabeth Banks appeared on the November 18, 2009, episode, "Great Expectations." Norton played Izzy LaFontaine, the fictional bassist of Spandau Ballet, whom Claire believed to be Phil's favorite band; Banks portrayed Sal, Mitchell and Cameron's old friend and reputed party girl, who they meet for a night on the town.Fred Willard made a brief cameo in a scene from "Undeck the Halls," followed by an appearance in Travels with Scout when he travels cross country without Phil's mother and shows up with a dog, Scout. Willard received a 2010 Primetime Emmy Award nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
Comedian Mo Collins guest starred as Denise the nurse, who is the caretaker of Caroline, a little girl Manny defeated in a fencing match, in the episode "En Garde."Kristen Schaal guest starred as Whitney, a woman Manny met online and believes he will take out on a date in the episode Fifteen Percent.
Chazz Palminteri guest starred as Shorty, a friend of Jay's who may or may not be gay, in the same episode.
Minnie Driver appeared as a friend and former co-worker of Claire's in "Moon Landing."
David Brenner appeared as himself in "My Funky Valentine."Judy Greer appeared as an ex-girlfriend of Phil’s in the episode "Truth Be Told."
Justin Kirk appeared as an owner of a clothing line, which Mitchell starts to work at.
Eric Lange appeared as a basketball coach.
Kobe Bryant made a cameo appearance in the episode "Family Portrait."
Benjamin Bratt guest starred as Manny's father Javier Delgado in "Up All Night."
Nolan North guest starred in "En Garde" as a prospective client in one of Phil's real estate showings.
Nathan Lane will appear in the second season as Pepper, the flamboyant friend of Mitchell and Cameron[/COLOR]The first season has been met with unanimously positive reviews. It received a "critically acclaimed" Metacritic score of 86 out of 100. Entertainment Weekly gave it an A-, calling it "immediately recognizable as the best new sitcom of the fall." In Time's review the show was named "the funniest new family comedy of the year." It has also been compared to the 1970s series Soap, in regards to the multiple family aspect, as well as Arrested Development. Some have made comparisons to The Office and Parks and Recreation, due to their mockumentary formats. Brian Stelter of the New York Times discusses this comparison and writes that "realism is what Lloyd and Levitan were seeking when they wrote the "Modern Family." BuddyTV named the show the second best show in 2009 saying, "Every actor is fantastic, every family is interesting, and unlike many shows, there isn't a weak link."
Modern Family drew criticism from some quarters for its portrayal of Cameron and Mitchell as not being physically affectionate with each other. The criticism spawned a Facebook campaign to demand Mitchell and Cameron be allowed to kiss. In response to the controversy, producers released a statement that a season two episode would address Mitchell's discomfort with public displays of affection. Executive producer Levitan has said that it was "unfortunate" that the issue had arisen, since the show's writers had always planned on such a scene "as part of the natural development of the show."
Awards
In 2010, Modern Family was nominated with five Television Critics Association Awards. The show gained nominations for best new series, best comedy series and best program of the year, while stars of the program, Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen, were all nominated individually. Like Friends, to reinforce the idea of an ensemble cast, the cast all submitted themselves in the Supporting Actor and Actress categories instead of Lead Actor and Actress for the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards. On August 29, 2010, Modern Family won Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (for the pilot episode), and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Eric Stonestreet).
1st on BuddyTV's Top Ten Best Comedy Shows of 2009–2010
2nd on Time's Top Ten Best shows of 2009
2nd on BuddyTV's Top Ten Best Shows of 2009
Jason Hughes Best TV of 2009
~source ::: wikipedia
BIOs
Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) :: How many one-time professional party clowns have also played on the offensive line for a Big Ten school? We know of at least one. Yes, Cameron Tucker was a center for the Fighting Illini as well as a classically-trained Auguste clown named Fizbo. But we know and love him as Mitchell Pritchett's longtime boyfriend and the adoptive father of a Vietnamese baby named Lily. Cam's bubbly, carefree personality proves to be a perfect complement to Mitchell's slightly uptight ways. Cameron says, "I'm sort of like Costco. I'm big, I'm not fancy and I dare you not to like me." We'd never take that dare because we know people love the Cam show.
Jay (Ed O'Neill) :: Jay Pritchett is on the south side of middle age. He recently married the much younger, much hotter, much more Colombian Gloria. He's already done the dad thing once with Claire and Mitchell. Now he's ready for round two with Gloria's son, Manny. There's a bit of a cultural clash. Jay is pretty set in his no-nonsense ways. But Gloria is quite fiery and Manny is most passionate. They are forcing Jay to change the way he thinks and embrace new experiences. Well, maybe embrace is too strong of a word. Let's just say he tolerates things. As much as he tries to cover his emotions with his gruff exterior, we can see that family is everything to Jay. 
Gloria (Sofia Vergara) :: Gloria hails from a lovely little village in Colombia, which also happens to be the murder capital of that fine country. She's married to Jay, who is quite a few years older. That doesn't matter to Gloria. She loves what she loves. And she truly loves Jay and her young son, Manny. Anyone who doubts this had better think twice about saying so. See, Gloria is most passionate. She's not afraid to say exactly what's on her mind. In fact, we don't think she's afraid of anything. Gloria truly embraces life. Guess that's why Jay fell in love with her. Of course, it doesn't hurt that she's drop-dead gorgeous, too.
Claire (Julie Bowen) :: If her teenage daughter Haley never wakes up on a beach in Florida half-naked, then Claire Dunphy feels she's done her job as mom. See, it's not easy to keep everyone in line when you're raising three very different kids (four, if you include hubby Phil). But as exasperated as she sometimes seems to be, we get the sense that Claire wouldn't change a thing when it comes to her family. Well, she might want Phil to take out the trash once in awhile... and for Haley and Alex to stop fighting... and it would be nice if Luke wore clothes while jumping in the trampoline. Still, as Jay's only daughter and Mitchell's older sis, she's the linchpin that keeps this Modern Family going.
Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) :: Mitchell is a serious, low key kind of guy. In other words, he's the exact opposite of his partner, Cameron. But opposites attract and Mitchell seems to have found the perfect counterbalance for his sometimes uptight, worrying ways. Mitchell has always been a little competitive with his sister Claire and he knows that dad Jay isn't completely comfortable with the fact that he's gay. Guess that's why it was so hard for him to tell the family that he and Cam adopted a beautiful baby girl. Of course, his family welcomed Lily with open arms knowing that she's lucky to have such a cautious, worrisome, overprotective, completely loving dad.
Phil (Ty Burrell) :: Phil Dunphy is the cool dad. That's his thang. At least, that's what he'd like us to believe. And you know what? We kinda do! Oh, sure, Phil has those "roll your eyes" moments that have us asking, "Is the guy for real?" You bet he is. As goofy as he may seem, Phil always has his heart in the right place. He dotes on his wife Claire and he constantly tries to bond with his three kids. Phil acts like a parent and talks like a peer. He calls it "peerenting." Love it! As a real estate mogul, Phil says, "I could sell a fur coat to an Eskimo." We believe he could. Phil has a severe fear of clowns and a not-so-subtle affection for his father-in-law's beautiful new wife. But we know in our hearts this Modern Family man would never stray. He's way too cool for that. 
Manny (Rico Rodriguez) :: Don't you wish that you could go through life without a hint of self-consciousness? If so, you should follow the lead of young Manny Delgado. This kid is an enigma. He has inherited his mother's passion for life and often wears his heart on his sleeve. Manny's zeal appeal is often lost on stepdad Jay but is always fully supported by mom Gloria. Manny is not afraid to take chances. He once made a move on a much older 16-year-old girl at the mall. He was rejected, but not defeated. Manny seems to have developed a little crush on Haley but continues to play the field. You just can't keep a passionate man down!
Haley (Sarah Hyland) :: The good news is that Haley is a typical teenager. Unfortunately, that's also the bad news. She's growing up a little too fast. Haley is supremely independent but sometimes a little naïve. She once rubbed her cell phone on her head for an hour because her sister, Alex, told her it would recharge the battery. It didn't. She argues with her mom and gets embarrassed by her dad, especially when he tries to buddy up to her boyfriend, Dylan, who loves the confidence Haley gets from being part of such a loving family. Yeah, we love that about her, too.
Alex (Ariel Winter) :: You know those kids who are so intelligent it's almost annoying? Well, Alex Dunphy is super smart but in a completely likeable way. She's the middle child which means she enjoys messing with both her older sister and younger brother equally. You kind of get the sense that Alex is an outside observer to the antics that surround her while quietly doing her own thing. As much as she enjoys torturing her brother and sister, you get the sense that she'll always have their backs.
Luke (Nolan Gould) :: Much like his two older sisters, Luke Dunphy marches to the beat of his own drum. It's an offbeat beat to say the least. Sometimes Luke gets his head stuck in the banister, other times he jumps around on the trampoline while in his underwear with a box on his head. Told ya he was offbeat. But Luke is epitomizes the innocence of youth. He didn't think it was a big deal to mention that his mom thought her dad's new wife was a "coal digger." Of course, Luke got the phrase wrong. What he meant was that Claire thought Gloria was a "gold digger." Ahhh. Careful what you say around this guy.~source ::: http://www.tv3.co.nz/Shows/Comedy/ModernFamily/Cast/tabid/998/Default.aspx
